Conservative Caucus encouraged by Senate shift

3 newly elected local delegates on board

RICHMOND — – The General Assembly's Conservative Caucus introduced an expanded 2012 legislative agenda Tuesday, which includes the "personhood" bill and repeal of the state's one-per-month limit on handgun purchases, saying it was emboldened by the Republican takeover of the Senate.

"This year we have a newly composed Senate, much more conservative," said caucus co-chairman Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg. "Our likelihood of succeeding on many of the items on the agenda, upon which we've been frustrated in the past, look really good."

In addition to legislation defining life as beginning at the moment of conception, and the handgun restrictions, the caucus is looking to repeal the state's corporate income tax; require drug testing for people who receive public assistance; tighten identification requirements for voters; extend tax credits for small businesses that create jobs; expand school choice through charter schools and vouchers and require women seeking an abortion to have an ultrasound.

Conservative Caucus co-chairman Del. Ben Cline, R-Rockbridge, said the 40-member caucus has doubled its agenda from 39 bills last session to 80 this year.

"That was a result of significant input from newly-elected delegates and senators on the agenda," Cline said. "Many of them campaigned on conservative legislation that they would like to see enacted, and brought those to us to be included in the agenda."

Three newly-elected local Dels. David Yancey, R-Newport News, Mike Watson, R-James City County, and Rick Morris, R-Isle of Wight, have all joined the Conservative Caucus.

Morris is sponsoring legislation to prohibit the application of foreign laws in Virginia courts.

"Only the legislature can establish public policy for the commonwealth," Morris said. "And this will establish that only American laws and American jurisprudence can be considered in making decisions."

He said this would prohibit Virginia courts from using decisions by international agencies and foreign courts in passing their own judgments.

""This is not any law against any nation or culture," Morris said. "It's not about that at all. This is only to preserve American values, to ensure individual freedoms from our American Constitution."

Watson has signed on as co-sponsor to another measure to limit the Business Professional Occupational Licenses (BPOL) tax, which is an issue he campaigned on.

He said the measure would allow localities that don't currently impose the BPOL tax to use it as long as they base it on net rather than gross proceeds and keep localities that use it from increasing the tax.

"It doesn't take anything from what they've got right now as far as localities revenue available to them," Watson said. "But it also keeps us from going further into relying on (BPOL). I ultimately want to look at a way to wean ourselves of that."

The vast majority of the Conservative Caucus's agenda will be vocally opposed by the 18-member Virginia Black Legislative Caucus, which announced last week it will strenuously fight legislation that restricts women's reproductive rights; suppresses voting rights and attempts to do away with the one-handgun-a-month restriction.

Black Caucus chairwoman Sen. Mamie Locke said this is part of her caucus's commitment to be the voice of the state's "underrepresented and underserved."

"It appears as though many of these issues are attacking the very groups that we've pledged ourselves to support," Locke said Tuesday. "It's undermining children; it's undermining the elderly; it's undermining education, health care. We're going to be in vocal opposition to any of those types of attacks."

Locke admits that because of sheer numbers a lot of the conservative agenda will get through the General Assembly, but she said it's important to be the voice of opposition.

"Part of purpose is to make sure people understand exactly what is being proposed and the impact that's going to have on various constituencies across the commonwealth," Locke said. "Part of our responsibility as a caucus is to educate the public exactly on what a lot of this stuff means and what the consequences are."